Do guys really welcome women into the world of HT? (1 Viewer)

[Kurt B]

I guess I've pretty much never viewed any sport/hobby/occupation as gender specific.
My wife loves to do woodworking, I love to cook, we both enjoy HT and so on.
She has a much better ear for music and sound than I do and was instrumental in the major speaker upgrade we did last year. After she pointed out some differences in the sounds to me I was finally able to detect the nuances she picked up. What a team we are!
~Kurt

 

[DanaA]

Pamela,

I've wished for more women on the board. I'm glad you're here and hope you post a lot.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

NNNNNNNOOOOOOooooo!
you can't have both!!
You can't be cool and like Martha Stewart, so stick to home theater.

You obviously have not seen my media tower constructed from used milk cartons or my DVD player cozy knitted from cat hairballs.
As far as welcoming women into the HT community, if I can get my wife to sit through an entire movie with me, I patiently wait for her to leave the room and then perform "The Victory Dance". You should have seen me doing the electric boogaloo after we watched Witness for the Prosecution the other evening. On second thought, no you should not.
Regards,

 

[Artur Meinild]

I also wish more women were into HT and this board. I find it's always interesting to hear women's point of view, as women often think different compared to men...

 

[Stacie]

Pamela,

I agree. Sometimes it's a little weird hanging out here, especially when people start (often justifiably) ranting about their wives/girlfriends, etc. -- and then turn that into a generalization about all women. It used to bug me, but now I just roll my eyes and laugh.

I admit, I got into home theater because of my then-boyfriend, now-husband. But I think I would have gotten into it on my own sooner or later, since I feel so strongly that recorded musical or cinematic artworks deserve the best presentation I can give them. I'm not as obsessed with minute differences between various pieces of hardware as my husband is, but I definitely appreciate (and can find a way to justify the cost of) anything that makes a significant audible or visible improvement.

I'm not into Martha Stewart, though I do like my home to look presentable. I must have different standards than a lot of women do, though, because I don't mind the tower speakers or the projection TV in the family room. (The tangled mess of cords behind the equipment rack does bug me, but I've learned to accept it as a necessary cost! And we could clean it up if we weren't so lazy.) Also, one stereotypically female quality I do have is a love for shopping. This ties in rather nicely (not so much for my checkbook, but..) with the HT hobby. There's always some new piece of gear or a new cool DVD to shop for, right?

My husband has been an audiophile practically since birth. I don't think there's any way he could have married a woman who wasn't at least somewhat sympathetic to his obsessions. We both love movies and music so much, I'm sure it was fate that helped us find each other!

 

[Ike]

Wait, wait, wait, go read some of my feminist rants in the TV area! Like this one. Or this one.
Sure. Just as long as they have good taste in movies.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Of course I welcome women into my HT hobby.

Now, if I could just get them to join my nude volleyball league.

 

[RobR]

The more women in HT, the better. I have enough trouble getting my wife to watch a DVD with me.

P.S. Martha Stewart annoys the hell out of me.

 

[Julie K]

I don't pick and choose my interests and hobbies based on whether they are "guy's hobbies" or "gal's hobbies". Such things are highly dependent on culture anyway. For instance, in the US, homebrewing is considered a "guy's hobby", yet in Peru, all brewing is considered the business of women. Personally, I like HT, cars, shooting, hunting, cooking, quilting, sewing, gardening, and various other divers things.

P.S. If Martha Stewart saw my house, particularly my choice of decor, she'd wet herself in fear then die screaming.

 

[Jon_B]

I'd be happy just to get a woman into my life!

Couldn't agree more! I'm just glad that we have access to the brillant minds of the opposite sex on this forum.
Jon

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

Well, when I overhear a woman saying something like, "ALL MEN ARE PIGS!" I don't take it personally...I just shrug it off...heck, we've all had our piggish days, male and female alike.

 

[BrendanL]

My girlfriend (who lives with me) has no interest in home theater. Most likely because she is hearing impared, so that may have something to do with it. She can hear my Shiva though. However, she does like DVD's because they are CC.

 

[Jason Handy]

Back on topic....I have another question for the ladies of the forum. What do you do for a living?
It seems like most of the people in this forum are affiliated with some technical field (computers, engineering, HI-FI, etc.), the same fields that seem to have a primarily male contingency.
So, are you ladies engineers and scientists? Are you accountants or executives? I personally think the reason we do not see more women on the forum here is the same reason I had mostly all-male study groups in college.
This is not meant to start a discussion about the general aptitude of women in technical fields. I personally believe that the few women I had classes with in grad school were more than competent and put some of us men to shame :b

 

[Janna S]

I'm a lawyer.

 

[ken thompson]

Pamela, I noticed your initial post on this thread was your first post on this forum. How could you feel this way so soon?

 

[Marianne]

I think it is great to have some female influences on the boards! I have to ask you this though, ladies - are the men in your lives into home theater as well, or do they like to crochet and cook?

My husband likes movies and is more than happy for me to buy, set up and otherwise organise the Home Theater stuff.
He is a "normal" guy in all other ways!

 

[Artur Meinild]

I personally believe that the few women I had classes with in grad school were more than competent and put some of us men to shame.

And why wouldn't they? But it seems to be a general problem with so few women at these educations. For instance, on the Technical University of Denmark the male/female ratio is app. 80/20.
However, on the Environmental Engineering Study Programme where I study, it's more like 50/50, and that's really great!

 

[Stacie]

I'm a library paraprofessional and a grad student on my way to becoming a professional librarian. Not exactly technical, but not quite un-technical either.

 

[Pamela]

Jason-I'm a graphic designer.

Pamela, I noticed your initial post on this thread was your first post on this forum. How could you feel this way so soon?

Perhaps this is the first post you have read of mine, but it's not my first post to this forum, either in the After Hours Lounge or the HT Hardware section. Also, just because I don't have a prodigious amount of posts here does not mean I haven't spent a considerable amount of time reading these forums. In fact, I have been lurking here for at least 1 1/2 years. I also have spent a lot of time on other forums-namely AudioReview, Home Theater Spot and AudioUtopia-all in the name of advancing my audio/home theater knowledge.

 

[Gary_E]

P.S. If Martha Stewart saw my house, particularly my choice of decor, she'd wet herself in fear then die screaming.

-Gary